The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus and method for creating coupons for free gift presentation and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for creating coupons for free gift presentation, which allow a customer who receives a coupon, on which an encrypted instant coupon number capable of indicating whether the instant coupon number is a winning number is printed, to immediately check whether he or she has won a free gift using a smart phone or the like.
Generally, as a type of marketing, free gifts are directly provided when products are purchased, or are provided using various types of coupons so as to prompt customers to purchase products. Typically, a free gift means that another product is provided free or at a low price to persons who purchased a certain product for a predetermined period of time. Such a free gift is used as a means for constructing a customer database (DB) and contributes to the improvement of the image of a brand.
However, marketing that presents free gifts, gift cards, and complimentary tickets using coupons, rather than marketing that provides free gifts when customer purchase products, has been mainly used so as to achieve publicity effects, prompt the purchase of products, and collect customer information. Typically, on coupons for free gift presentation, coupon numbers are printed, and methods of presenting free gifts are mainly implemented as an unconditional presentation method of receiving the coupon number of a relevant coupon from a coupon user who accesses the corresponding site using a computer or the like, registering the coupon number, and then providing a free gift, and a winning method of providing a free gift only when an input coupon number is a winning coupon number.
Therefore, the latter case has inconvenience in that a coupon user must personally access the site of a company that provides coupons using a computer each time, individually enter coupon numbers printed on coupons, and then check whether he or she has a winning coupon number.
Further, conventional coupons are problematic in that coupon numbers are printed to allow anyone to easily view coupon numbers printed on the coupons, thus causing the coupon numbers to be easily exposed to a third party. Accordingly, there is a problem in that a third party who views the coupon number of the coupon can register the coupon number and receive a free gift before the actual coupon user does.